Wisdom Dawned Upon Parties To Settle Dispute Amicably: Supreme Court Ends Litigation Between Flat Buyers, Bank & Builder
The Supreme Court, satisfied with the full compliance of its previous order by all three parties, closed all matters and directed that “there shall be complete quietus to the litigation.”
The Supreme Court, in a dispute amongst flat buyers, builders, and ICICI Bank, remarked that “wisdom dawned upon the three parties in a commercial arrangement to settle the dispute amicably.”
The Court, satisfied with the full compliance of its previous order by all three parties, closed all matters and directed that “there shall be complete quietus to the litigation.” The Court in 2024 had facilitated a settlement between the parties in an Appeal under Section 23 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (the Act).
A Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sanjay Karol noted, “The Bank had extended the discounts, the builder had discharged its obligations of payment of its share of pre-EMI and the borrowers had discharged their obligations by making the deposits with the Bank of the outstanding amount and also paying to the builder the 5% of the sale consideration which was outstanding.”
Senior Advocate Abhishek Malhotra represented the Appellants, while Advocate Prerna Singh appeared for the Respondents.
Brief Facts
The dispute arose when ICICI Bank issued loan recall notices to flat buyers, alleging default in pre-EMI payments under their home loan agreements. The borrowers claimed that the builder, Rajsanket Realty Ltd., had failed to meet its obligations, which led to their financial burden. The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) had earlier dismissed the flat buyers’ complaints, prompting them to approach the Supreme Court under Section 23 of the Act.
Court’s Observations
The Supreme Court noted, “When the matter was taken up on 09.01.2025, learned counsel for the parties had informed us that all the directions contained in order dated 06.11.2024 have been complied with by the parties. Accordingly, two weeks’ time was granted to the appellants to file the relevant documents relating to proof of deposits and the No Dues Certificate to be issued by the Bank to enable the Court to pass the final orders and conclude the proceedings. All the four appellants filed their affidavits before 23.01.2025 when orders were reserved.”
“We have perused the affidavits and we find that full compliance of the terms and conditions undertaken by the three parties has been done satisfactorily,” the Bench remarked.
Consequently, the Court ordered, “Thus, all matters between the parties stand closed and there shall be complete quietus to the litigation. The appeals stand disposed of accordingly.”
Accordingly, the Supreme Court disposed of the Appeal.
Cause Title: Akshay Gupta & Ors. v. ICICI Bank Limited & Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2025 INSC 391)
Appearance:
Appellants: Senior Advocate Abhishek Malhotra; AOR Sonali Jain and Alakh Alok Srivastava; Advocate Srishti Gupta
Respondents: AOR Soumya Dutta and Smriti Churiwal; Advocates Sumit Goel, Sreeparna Basak, Swati Bhardwaj, Pratyusha Priyadarshini, Garima Khanna, Viraj Kadam